tournament results...

Wow.. it has been a long couple of weeks! We made it back from Tbilisi, Georgia on Monday late morning (11 or so), and it has been nonstop since that time! I need to recap the events from the trip and get you caught up on the successful weekend the teams had.

Our school held a Pep Rally before we left for Tbilisi.... our director is very creative when organizing all school assemblies and such... so yes, there were some entertaining events that lead the the BIS EAGLES cheers. The coaches, 2 players, Mr. Root, and Mr. Schafer had a mini-competition... AC introduced the challenge by saying that we needed to blindfold one of the partners, and then he insinuated that we would have to direct our partner to do something. Of course, we are all thinking that the blindfolded person would be the one being directed... the challenge was definitely unexpected! Emily was my blindfolded partner. She had to make her way across the stage to me, peel a banana, and feed it to me. The first team to eat the whole banana were declared the winners... and won more bananas! It was hilarious! Emily was screaming at me, I was laughing and taking enormous bites (which was a mistake), making it almost impossible to swallow and continue with the race. Yes, the coaches lost! We weren't very good banana eaters-- well as a team that is!!

We left Baku on Wednesday (Feb. 18th) -- it felt good to be going on a trip again. I have been on the train, so I knew what to expect and how to prepare this time-- lots of wet wipes, drinks, pillow, snacks, games, etc. Most of the kids have been on the train as well-- so needless to say, our bags were all stuffed with "supplies". Poor Emily hadn't had the opportunity to experience the train, so I know that the "not so clean" environment was a bit overwhelming for her-- not to mention her phobia of bathrooms (and the train bathrooms are worse than outhouses because when you flush you see where it goes-- on the tracks! Along with the fact that there is a hole in the floor -- I think it is meant to be used as a drain or something-- anyway, you can see the tracks/ground flash by as you are squatting or whatever). The whole experience is one that is unforgettable though!

So, we had a few problems with passports and visas before we even got onto the train-- which was a little frustrating, but we worked through it. After getting on the train with 10 students, us 2 coaches, and 1 mom, we thought it would be smooth sailing! It was even a good set up (by Ruslan), as far as "rooming" goes. The 2 coaches and 2 students in the center of the other two cabins of 4 students. Emily and I thought for sure that the students would migrate to another room and play games, leaving us to relax.... but like I have said a few times, the kids we work with are a different breed (a good thing of course). At one point on the course of the ride all 10 students, Emily and I were in OUR cabin, just talking and "hanging out". Of course the rest that Emily and I thought we would be getting on the train didn't happen-- we were up with the kids until about 3 am.

I felt like I was just starting to get some sleep and rest a bit when the conductor came in to wake us up because we were on the Azeri border. 7 am was way too early to be getting up! Passport control guards enter the train at this point to check and collect passports and visas (routine)... they also check bags and such with some sort of out of date apparatus. This is where the course of the trip changed a bit....

One of the students has a UK passport, but also has Azeri citizenship (he enters the country using his mom's passport and visas). Well, because of this there were complications. His mom made the trip with us, thank goodness, because the guards were not budging on the fact that our student was going to cross the border. Azerbaijan has a law about underage children leaving the country without a permission/consent from the father-- and our student didn't have this-- even though he is a British Citizen and his father is not Azerbaijani. Our original hopes were that having his mother with us on the train -- would clarify and "fix" the problem, but it didn't. Anyway, both of them (the student and his mother) were told to get off the train. Panic time! Emily and I were on the phones with our director and the head of security for our school. Meanwhile we have students trying to help translate and make explanations to the guards and the conductors because remember--- this is all happeing in Azeri and Russian-- both of which Emily and I do not speak! The head of security is telling me to pay the bribe (which is what he was assuming they wanted), while I am telling him that that is not going to happen and that he needs to get in touch with the British Embassy NOW. Emily is on the phone with the director relaying what is happening -- and he is telling us to stick to our guns that they are just trying to push us around, and to have the student and his mom stay put. WELL... things escalated... we somehow moved from the cabins to the front of the the train (car), where the guards were refusing to listen to me, Emily, our student translator, the conductor, or our student who was being "booted"... they wouldn't even take the phone from our hands to speak to our security guard (which wouldn't have helped anyway, but it was an option at that time). Somehow, our player and his mom were off the train each on the pavement surrounded by guards and we are all being pushed back onto the train, where the doors were being closed. Emily was rapidly relaying what was happening to our director and I was trying to get the translation of what was going on from our student translator.... it was very frightening to see and feel the train slowly leave the station, with our player and his mom surrounded by guards, just in the middle of nowhere. Of course... the train continued to move and we continued the phone calls to our director and the British Embassy. However, it was out of our hands at this point. All we could do was ride the train to Tbilisi and hope for the best.

We again stopped on the Georgian border-- for the routine 2 hours-- and then about an hour later we arrived at the Tbilisi train station. Kahkha (Ka-Ha) was waiting for us-- it was so good to see him again. Of course, he is just as ornery as Hayyam, but we still love him. The buses were waiting to take us out to eat and the kids were excited to get off the train and use a normal bathroom! Merab lead us to a traditional Georgian restaurant and ordered the works for all of us! I love Georgian food! It is so flavorful and has a certain zing to it! We had cheese and bean stuffed Khatchapuri and learned how to eat Khinkali. Honestly, I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to have good, piping hot, meat with spices; it was fabulous!



While we were enjoying our lunch-- one of our players had to go to get a "re-entry" visa at his embassy-- so they took the blue bus-- and yes it was blue, but I am implying the other as well! Apparently, as they were driving up a steep cobble-stoned road the back end of the bus opened, spilling out its contents (our luggage)! Dawid said things were rolling down the hill pretty rapidly, but they were able to recover all that had dumped out-- which included my luggage, the bags of drinks and snacks, my pillow, and the luggage of 3 of our students. Dawid was right though-- they recovered everything-- the broken and the unharmed! My pillow was caked in dirt and my brand new thermos took quite a beating-- it is still usable, I think! :)

Well, the BLUE bus returned to get us with the news, but we had to laugh about it.... nothing could be done. So anyway, we hopped in and headed to tour a bit of the downtown area. On the way down the hill from the restaurant, the brakes went out in the BLUE bus. No worries... we survived! The driver ran into the curb to stop... and we were able to exit safely! :) All of this fun didn't stop us from taking a quick adventure downtown-- actually, we wondered around the streets a bit and wasted some time. Emily and I really just wanted to tire the students out a bit before we took them to the school and made them practice!! It was about this time that we found out that our "border problems" were solved and our student and his mom were on their way to Tbilisi.

All of the above happened on Wednesday and Thursday... we were at the tournament until Sunday night, so I won't bore you with the somewhat ridiculous escapades that occurred. Emily and I stayed with the same host family that I stayed with on my first visit to Tbilisi, Deb and John Bernlohr. They are wonderful people and made us feel so welcome and at home in their home. I can't even begin to tell you how at ease and comfortable they made us feel, it was definitely refreshing and appreciated. I wish we had more time to spend with the family, and more time to do some exploring, but we spent most of our time at the school.

Our days were long, 9-7 for the most part, with a total of 8 games played. We are very proud of the way our teams played and acted. They came away from the tournament with a second place trophy for the boys and a first place trophy for the "girls". It was great! We are all very, very proud of them! It has been a long season for all of us, but they earned a great amount of respect from other teams and came away from the season with a lot of pride.

The adventures on the train ride home were less exciting. However, Emily and I did create a quiz for the players that kept them occupied for a good 2-3 hours. We wrote down 48 of the funniest moments from the trip -- "Who yelled, "Miss Clancy we don't even have 6 players?""-- I had said 6 (meaning passes before shooting-- because we were ahead by so much), but the point guard thought I meant a play and called 6 High (impossible when we only have 5 players to run the play)! Or "Who said, "Miss Clancy can I have your camera... there's a dog pooping in the street??"-- the sad thing is I had handed the camera to them by this point! Of course, Emily and I rewarded those that got the most correct and most wrong with little trinkets that we had picked up.... bubbles, frisbees, and other silly games. It was a memorable quiz and we did a lot of laughing.

Hayyam was anxiously awaiting our return-- he missed us. He said school wasn't the same without us-- of course Em and I had to rub in the fact that we found someone to replace him (Kahkha) because he was nicer to us. Hayyam didn't buy it! None of us returned to school that day. The kids went home to get some sleep and the teachers (or at least I did) worked on grades, which were due on Wednesday. Our week was also jam packed with activities for Maslenitsa (the Russian holiday that welcomes spring) and Jump Rope for the Heart activities. AND last night, we awarded the boys and girls teams with a dinner at an Indian restaurant in town.... tired!

day 2...

so i am on day 2 of no heat or hot water-- which is why i am now thinking that i don't know how Emily did it all those months-- it isn't fun. it is funny... but not fun! :) at one point this weekend i decided that i wanted it to snow-- and thank goodness that hasn't happened because i am already wearing my hat and scarf in the house.

on to warmer topics.... the basketball team(s) have a scrimmage tomorrow and then we are off to Georgia on Wednesday. we have had a tough time this term with keeping the number of players up-- academics and students moving have set us back a bit, but they seem to be ready for the tournament.

the girls have fluctuated the most-- but i am really proud of the 3 that have stuck with the ups and downs of the team. the girls will be playing in the senior division, but with the help of some of our younger boys. the boys stepped up to help the girls out-- so the team will be 3 girls and 2 boys. Emily and i are proud of them.

the senior boys' team only has 5 guys (well -- 7 with the 2 that are also playing for the girls). they are going to be tired-- but all of them are hardworkers-- and work better under pressure! i am not so sure that their coaches will make it through the tournament if the games are as close as they were in the last tournament. :) actually, being able to have some practices and having been given the opportunity to actually learn some plays has helped a lot.

the train will be an interesting part of the trip-- 10 students and Emily and i-- i really need to charge my i-pod! actually, if all goes well-- they will play Catch Phrase and its battery won't die until after the trip!! i will share some photos of the whole experience of course--- i should be able to get some good ones this time because we will have a little bit of time on Thursday to sight-see-- it also extends the amount of "bonding" time that we have with the teams-- but it is all good. we have a good bunch of kids going.

celebrating at school...

Friday the 13th was a very happy time at BIS-- the elementary students traveled to a variety of stations to celebrate "heart" day. The 10 and 11 year old class also had a great time creating their school peace tree. They are promoting peace between nations and celebrating the unity of different cultures. We look forward to seeing their symbols of peace adorn the tree.

a little love...

book club...

Our book club is still going full throttle-- and we are truly reading the books too! On Friday we met at Billy's for a some food, drinks, and great discussions. We all read Sarah's Key, it was an excellent book -- very sad though. It was a historical fiction -- focusing on the Holocaust. I think this is why our discussions about the book were scattered and mingled with random other topics. It was quite the ride to and from the downtown area-- but Rauf still loves us all! I believe we have changed the name again-- 'Go Red!'-- a little extra motivating for some members- just kidding, but we do have a slight dilemma-- we can't think of a suitable name for our zany club.